Oil falls to around $70 on mixed US economic signs

[June 17, 2009]  LONDON (AP) -- Oil prices fell to around $70 a barrel Wednesday as investors weighed mixed signals from the U.S. economy amid sliding equity markets.

Benchmark crude for July delivery fell 39 cents to $70.08 a barrel by midday in Europe in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Tuesday, it fell 15 cents to settle at $70.47.

Oil prices this week have come off eight-month highs near $73 a barrel amid some signs that the U.S. economy, while past the worst of a severe recession, is still weak. The Federal Reserve said Tuesday that industrial production fell a larger-than-expected 1.1 percent in May.

After a rally of almost 40 percent since March 9, the Dow Jones industrial average has fallen 3.3 percent over the first two days of the week.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said home construction jumped in May by the largest amount in three months after hitting a record low in April.

"There have been some mixed signs," said Toby Hassall, an analyst with investment firm Commodity Warrants Australia in Sydney. "The last few days we've seen a turn toward negative sentiment. Oil looks set for a correction."

The market is awaiting the Wednesday release of the Energy Department's weekly report on petroleum inventory data.

It is expected to show a 1.7 million-barrel drop in crude oil reserves for the week ended June 12, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

Platts also expects gasoline stockpiles to fall by 650,000 barrels, distillate stocks to rise by 950,000 barrels and refinery capacity to rise 0.25 percentage point to 86.15 percent.

A reading above or below estimates can influence market trading.

Crude traders have also been watching the dollar. A weakening dollar helped fuel a doubling of the oil price since March as investors often look to commodities such as crude as a hedge against inflation.

The euro gained to $1.3866 on Wednesday from $1.3813 on Tuesday.

"Oil will likely drift below $70 and maybe to $65." Hassall said. "It's been a very strong rally, driven by sentiment rather than data, which makes it look vulnerable to a correction."

In other Nymex trading, gasoline for July delivery fell 3.69 cents to $2.0342 a gallon and heating oil dropped 0.75 cent to $1.8175. Natural gas for July delivery fell 0.9 cent to $4.12 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent prices fell 22 cents to $70.02 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

[Associated Press; By PABLO GORONDI]

Associated Press writer Alex Kennedy in Singapore contributed to this report.

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